


I am a Jedi, Like My Father Before Me

by pastandfuturequeen



Series: 15 Days of FinnPoe [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: 15 Days of FinnPoe, Finn Skywalker, Force-Sensitive Finn, Jedi Finn, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 09:57:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13144254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastandfuturequeen/pseuds/pastandfuturequeen
Summary: The path winds and turns and narrows until at last there is a clearing. The space is small, and in the middle is one circular table carved out of stone. Finn approaches the table and takes a seat before it. The force is stronger here, in this place. It laps at him like the wash of a wave against the shore. Finn closes his eyes and turns his attention to it, reaching towards the untamable energy. It flutters and slides across his hand like silk, obedient to the smallest brush of his fingertips. He presses forward, calling towards familiar names and spirits he has long since considered friends but not met until now.Or, alternatively - Finn has reinvented the original Jedi Order. He seeks advice on how to continue and avoid the mistakes of those that came before him.15 Days of FinnPoe: Day 8





	I am a Jedi, Like My Father Before Me

**Author's Note:**

> _On the eighth day of FinnPoe, my true love gave to me . . . eight jedi's training!_
> 
> [[Also Posted on Tumblr]](https://pastandfuturequeen.tumblr.com/post/168931750010/15-days-of-finnpoe-day-8)

There are seven children in total, faces young and round in a way that will not disappear until they reach 16 in only a handful of years’ time. They all spar on the soft grass in pairs of two, determination on their faces. The sky is a warm blue above them, the two suns of their current planet warming their skin.

Finn stands and watches over them all, a proud smile on his face. There are wrinkles around his eyes now, strands of grey peppering across his hair and on his temples. His stance is strong, grounded in a way that can only belong to a man with great power and had long since attained inner peace. He turns away from his students, walking towards the entrance of the cave.

The rock is smooth to the touch, worn from the press of hands and countless prayers towards the force. The force welcomes him in its warm embrace, like night falling over the earth. Finn breathes out a sigh, a small smile creeping up on his aged face as he continues his path. The cave’s path twists and turns as if through a mind of its own, sentience and nature blending into one. Light emits from the ceiling, and above him Finn sees the bottom of a lake, held up only by the will of the cave and the life force of those that had entered before him. Soft blue light ripples over his shoulders and across the cave floor, and still he continues.

The path winds and turns and narrows until at last there is a clearing. The space is small, and in the middle is one circular table carved out of stone. Finn approaches the table and takes a seat before it. The force is stronger here, in this place. It laps at him like the wash of a wave against the shore. Finn closes his eyes and turns his attention to it, reaching towards the untamable energy. It flutters and slides across his hand like silk, obedient to the smallest brush of his fingertips. He presses forward, calling towards familiar names and spirits he has long since considered friends. 

When Finn opens his eyes, he is accompanied by eight more guests. They each sit at the rest of the tables, kind gazes turned to him. On his left is Leia Organa, just as kind and bold as she had been in life. Next to her is Luke Skywalker. His face is smoother now, less worried. Next is Mace Windu, his gaze quiet in its approval. He is accompanied by Depa Billaba, the very picture of the calm before a storm. She sits next to Shaak Ti with her wise and piercing gaze, followed by Luminara Unduli, grace and power emitting from her quiet presence. Amongst them all is Anakin Skywalker. The man looks at his grandson with pride, the sorrow that once plagued him now replaced with an inner peace.

Finn looks at them all, feeling the thrum of their power even from the edges of the force and the far reaches of the galaxy. “Hello, my son,” Luke says, breaking the silence.

Finn’s answering smile is kind, though he is full of nerves he has not felt since his youth. “Hello.”

“Hello, Jedi Master Finn,” the others greet, voices overlapping as they speak.

Finn is startled by the title, an unfamiliar phrase he has not heard in many years. He swallows, trying to steel himself. “I’ve been able to feel your presence in the Force,” he begins. “I’m sure you’ve had many questions and concerns now that I’ve tried to restore the Jedi.” The others only look at him, their faces blank. Finn presses on. “I started finding and training new Jedi some time ago, almost by accident at first. Many things have changed since then. I’ve changed.” he takes a breath. “My students are learning quickly now. They’re picking up on the practices of the force even sooner than the last group,” he says, nerves settling only slightly in his stomach as his voice grows louder and he looks over them all. This is the first time that he has summoned all of them, though the call of their life force has appeared to him for some time now. He takes a breath. 

Anakin’s proud smile turns grave. “Do they show signs of turning?” he asks.

“No,” Finn shakes his head. “I sense no disturbance from any of them.”

His grandfather’s force ghost sits less tensely, but the worry still presses against his forehead.

“Then why call us all here?” The question comes from Mace. “You’ve felt our presence before. Yet you’ve never called on us until now. What’s changed?”

Finn is quiet for a moment. “I’m growing older, now,” he says simply. “Looking back, I know I’ve made many mistakes. Everyone at this table has seen what can happen when mistakes are made and no effort is made to rectify them.” Each of the members still, memories of Snoke and the Empire and the F.O. flitting across their minds. Anakin’s face turns hard, though there is sorrow in his gaze.

“So what I want is an outside opinion. I know I have deviated from the teachings of the original Jedi Order,” he starts slowly. “Especially with the rank and the bureaucracy. I know this was a controversial decision on my part,” he shoots a quick glance to Mace and Shaak Ti, the shadow of a remorseful smile on his lips. “But I would be foolish not to consult you all as I continue to restore the Jedi. What can I do now, in the present, to teach the next generation not to make the same mistakes we have made?” Silence follows his words. He meets their gazes head on, and not for the first time he feels the press of his own age on his shoulders. Yet for the first time Finn sees his age not as a sign of his mortality, but as a sign of his resolve. He has survived to tell more tales than anyone should in ten lifetimes. So now he sits not beside his superiors, or the judges over his fate, as he had seen and felt them as for so many years prior. He sits beside equals - shared spirits whose legacies he hopes to join in a new age, those who have carved a new path for future generations to walk.

Luke blows a breath, breaking the tense silence that had settled around them all. “My son,” he begins - Finn believes that is a phrase he will never tire of hearing. Luke continues, “Based on my own experience, and the tragedies that followed,” he shares a quick look with Leia, sorrowful. “My one piece of advice is to listen to the waves of change. What you’ve done is plenty, but I hope that you know is that for all that you’ve done, you can still only hope to guide the new generation, rather than try and prevent all change. Rest.”

Finn nods, taking a breath. “I understand, Luke. But I cannot help but worry that my actions now are not sufficient to allow the next generation to carve their own path. I worry that all that I’ve done hasn’t been enough. That it has been for nothing.”

“What you have done,” Luminara interrupts, drawing their attention to her. “Is to create a kind of Jedi better than what he had established during the time of the Order. You know as well us that we are aware of all that has occurred since the fall of the First Order - the chaos and imbalance, the scrambling for peace-” her words are calm, collected, and sincere. “You have done all that you can to build from the wreckage we left in our wake as a result of our own blindness and failure.”

“What I believe Luminara is trying to say,” continues Depa, calm and direct. “Is that your actions have established a new Jedi - a better Jedi. And for that, we are grateful.”

“Yes, we are,” echoes Shaak Ti. The others soon follow. Pride swells across Finn’s chest, warming him from the inside out.

Leia turns to him. “I’m not sure what you called me for, then,” she begins. “I was never a Jedi.”

“No,” Finn says, shaking his head. “But your leadership and your strength during the fight against the Empire and the F.O., and the training you gave me on the ways of the force has been invaluable.”

Leia’s face is kind, the determination and pride she had held in life again reflected in her prideful gaze as she looks upon her nephew. “You and Poe are better than I could have been,” she says.

The party continues to speak for what seems like the span of a century and no time at all. At last the members around the table start to disappear, one by one, sinking back into the force just as they had before. Luke, Leia, and Anakin each spare him a final lingering look until at last they, too, slip through his fingers and into the wave of the force around them all.

Finn takes a breath and rises from his seat, feeling somewhat drained. With the last pieces of his concentration he feels the force wrap around him in some wave of comfort. He is not as young as he had been, and such an extended engagement with the force and so many people of the past had drained him, both physically and otherwise. Finn makes his path through the cave, the path different now than when he had first entered.

The sky outside is darker now, an inky black scattered with stars, and he hums to himself. In the distance he spots the home where the young padawans live and rest, lights flickering and signalling that Finn had missed dinner time. He lets out a breath and sets himself to continue the walk from the entrance of the cave to his home. He is joined a moment later, the familiar presence comforting beside him. “Were you waiting this whole time?” he asks in the quiet of the night.

Poe shakes his head beside him. “Not the whole time. Just the last stretch.”

Finn doesn’t quite believe him, but he doesn’t comment on it. He turns to Poe, a warm smile on his face. Poe has aged now as well. His beard and hair have long since turned completely grey, and he walks with a slight lean to his left - the result of an unfortunately-aimed blaster to the leg many, many years ago. His voice and face is still as full of life as when they were young, and the love in his eyes is timeless. Poe matches Finn’s smile with one of his own, both reaching a quiet understanding. They continue to walk towards their home, fingers linking between them.

“How long until this group is ready?” Poe asks quietly.

Finn hums. “Probably another couple of months. Lamira is the most promising of them all, but overall they’re advancing faster than I expected.”

“It helps that they have a great teacher,” Poe says.

Finn shoots him a look, face growing warm. “ _Poe,_ ”

“Yes, my love?”

“We’ve been together for over three decades.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to stop complimenting you,” Poe says matter-of-factly.

They stop for a moment, their home and the rest of the jedi-in-training only a short walk away. Their faces glow under the light of the stars, love clear. Finn presses a kiss to Poe’s lips, chaste and without the impatient rush of their youth. They have time.

The pair continue their walk to their home, smiles on their faces and peace on their minds.

**Author's Note:**

> **15 Days of FinnPoe Notes:**
> 
> Happy Holidays everyone! It's been a while.
> 
> So if y’all weren’t aware, I attempted to do a thing called 15 Days of FinnPoe, where I was going to release a fic once a day every day from December 1st to the 15th in honor of TLJ releasing in theatres. I unfortunately was not able to post further than Day 6 because I was studying in the library for finals and someone spilled literally their entire cup of piping hot coffee over my laptop. I hadn’t backed up any of the fics, so the rest of the fics, as well as a lot of other personal stuff like notes and some of my thesis work are gone. I was ridiculously busy talking to my professors and thesis advisors to rectify the situation, which is why the rest of the fics were not uploaded in time. Thankfully the kid who spilled the coffee was both able and willing to pay for my laptop to get fixed and I was given an extension over my finals, so that’s been good.
> 
> I've been working on some of the fics since then because I felt a little bad at having said I was going to publish so many fics and then falling back on that. Unfortunately I had written the fics over the course of several months the last time, which is why I haven't been able to complete them all within the past two weeks. But I was able to finish five. So I hope this makes up for it!
> 
> **General Notes:**
> 
> I actually really like thinking about Finn growing older and attempting to lead the Jedi. We know he's got leadership experience and in TFA he really is the person to quite literally change the game in multiple respects. Plus we know that Luke's worried about the fact that he wasn't able to avoid Kale from happening and the original Jedi Order screwed up BIG TIME in the prequels and the comics. So I like the thought of Finn growing old, being a leader and guiding kids in the ways of the force like how he wishes someone had guided him.
> 
> Also, I'm really shit with tagging stuff lol. Anybody have any suggestions after reading the fic?
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave kudos, comments, and criticism below!


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